Tag Archives: blood preservation

Blood debt

February 10, 2020

Jules Reich Chicago, Illinois, United States   A patient donating blood, Australia, c. late 1940s. Via Wikimedia. In 1937, the first U.S. blood bank opened in Chicago. It was originally called a Blood Preservation Laboratory, but its founder, Dr. Bernard Fantus, changed the name to blood bank. For someone who spent a large part of […]

Bloody segregation: The story of how Charles Richard Drew found life abundantly

February 10, 2020

Amy DeMatt Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States   Charles R. Drew, “Father of the Blood Bank,” as depicted by Betsy Graves Reyneau. The portrait hangs at the National Portrait Gallery, and, as described by the Gallery, serves as a “visual rebuttal to racism.” Portrait of Charles R. Drew, painted by Betsy Graves Reyneau, 1950, National Portrait […]

Blood and war: Preserving plasma and humanity

January 22, 2020

Navanjana Siriwardane Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada   “Charles Drew with Laboratory Apparatus – Charles R. Drew – Profiles in Science.” U.S. National Library of Medicine. National Institutes of Health. Accessed January 4, 2020. Amidst the fighting and chaotic nature of World War II, the need for proper blood banking was greater than ever. Millions […]